Locally owned colt sharp in Grassroots

INNISFIL, ON – JULY 11, 2020 – Georgian Downs hosted a trio of $22,450 Grassroots harness racing divisions for the two-year-old trotting colts on Saturday night, and it was local youngster Master Grand who delivered the fastest mile of the Ontario Sires Stakes battles.

Master Grand and trainer-driver Aaron Byron left with confidence from Post 5 and had established command by the :31 opening quarter. Byron allowed Randy Waples and Imasharpdealer to circle to the front heading for the 1:01.2 half, but were soon back out and pressing the pacesetter. Imasharpdealer could not handle the pressure and skipped off stride as the colts reached the 1:31.2 three-quarters. From there it was smooth sailing for fan favourite Master Grand, who hit the wire five and one-quarter lengths the best in 2:00.3. Diehard Seelster was second and Insanity was well back in third.

"He's been training down great. We're local to Georgian and I wanted to give him a start here, and he really handled this well," said Byron, who trains Master Grand for Paul Kelly of Alliston, ON. "He's a nice horse and he trots very well. He's a nice, big Muscle Mass colt."

Byron and Kelly travelled to Harrisburg, PA last November for the annual Black Book Yearling Sale and spent hours looking at a variety of yearlings before acquiring Master Grand for $28,000, time Byron says they could have spent elsewhere as it turned out.

"He was the first horse we looked at. We drove, what seven, eight hours from here, and the first horse we saw we could have just bought that one, but instead we looked at about 1,000 more," said the Thornton, ON resident with a chuckle. "He was the very first horse because I went into Winbak (Farms) to get a pen, because I like their pens, and some young lady goes, 'Oh want to see my favourite horse?' And that just happened to be him.

"He did everything right, like he's really easy on himself, so the winter in Canada didn't bother him too much. He's just kind of a nice horse to be around, he's a real gentleman."

Byron has spent most of the last decade plying his trade south of the border, but with a growing family – he and wife Carylyn welcomed twins three weeks ago – he decided it was time to come home. The reinsman has been making regular appearances at Georgian Downs in addition to trips to Woodbine Mohawk Park and Grand River Raceway.

The other two divisions were clocked in an identical 2:00.4. Four Wheelin captured the first Grassroots win of the two-year-old trotting colt season, getting a neck in front of fan favourite Arch Hall and Tymal Chrome at the wire with a big late effort.

"I don't drive that much so I was confident of him, but I didn't drive him that confident. He helped me get the job done," said trainer-driver Marcel Barrieau. "It was unbelievable what he did tonight. I really like him all that much more, because he showed a lot of grit, he trotted home real well."

After leaving sharply from Post 2 Barrieau and Four Wheelin led the field at the :30.4 opening quarter then yielded to Showme Some Muscle heading for the 1:00 half. As Arch Hall and Tymal Chrome powered up the outside lane on the way to the 1:31 three-quarters Four Wheelin was pinned on the rail in fourth, but when Showme Some Money skipped off stride in the stretch Barrieau was able to squeeze Four Wheelin up the inside for the narrow victory.

"He's got a big burst. He showed that in Mohawk qualifying there (June 18), home in :27.4," said Cambridge resident Barrieau, who shares ownership of the Wheeling N Dealin colt with Gestion Mastel Inc. of Longueil, QC. "He did tonight too, to come home like that, so we hope that he's got a good heart so he can keep going."

Four Wheelin was a $32,000 acquisition from last fall's London Selected Yearling Sale.

Top Hall captured the other Grassroots division with a commanding front-end performance from Post 6 that saw him hit the wire two lengths ahead of The Wheel and Moscow Moon.

"He said he qualified really good, Gerard did, and he said he trained good. He said he's been pretty solid, so he said just be careful with him off the gate and if he seems good you can let him roll," said Paul Mackenzie, who piloted the gelding to the win for trainer Gerard Demers. "I just let him float out of there and he did everything pretty good. He got a little green around the last turn, but when I asked him he still had some go to him. He's nice and solid, a nice trotter. Gerard did a great job of training him down and bringing him to the races."

Demers conditions the Angus Hall son for Les Ecuries GLD Inc. of Dundas, ON, Jean Roch Marois, St-Joachim-de-Shefford and La Ferme Tag Inc. of Papineauville, QC. The partners acquired Top Hall from the London Selected Yearling Sale for $22,000.

The two-year-old trotting colts will make their second Grassroots start at Hiawatha Horse Park on July 25.

Complete results for Saturday night's program are available at Georgian Downs Results.

Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at Georgian Downs on Sunday night with three $72,267 Gold Series divisions for the two-year-old trotting fillies. The fillies make their Ontario Sires Stakes debut in Races 3, 5, 7 on the program, which gets underway at 6 pm. Fans can download a program and watch the live stream on the Georgian Downs website.

Fromm the Ontario Sire Stakes